Investigating a race-based strength bias across development: evidence from children, adolescents, and adults

White adults perceive Black men as stronger, taller, heavier, and more capable of harm than White men of the same size. The current study aimed to investigate the development of this race-based size bias. Children (6–11 years), adolescents (12–17 years), and adults (18+-year-old college students) judged the strength, height, and weight of Black and White characters who participated in negative interactions; we recruited a racially diverse sample, though most participants in the final sample were White individuals. Although we did not find consistent evidence for biases related to height or weight, we did identify age-related differences in a race-based bias related to strength across development. Children's strength ratings depended on the actions characters engaged in, but not their race; adolescents ratings depended separately on actions and race; adults' race-based biases for strength varied by actions. These findings are discussed as to how they might relate to how a race-based size biases seen in adulthood emerges across development.